MURDER ON A COUNTRY LANE: Gripping cozy English mystery fiction by Jon Harris

Author:Jon Harris [Harris, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: THE BOOK FOLKS bestselling mystery fiction publisher
Published: 2023-09-23T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 11

Milk, News & More was a small convenience store just off Biddle’s high street, more commonly known simply as Donaldson’s after its mercurial proprietor.

Outside, the façade of the old Victorian end-terrace had been covered over in garishly coloured, oversized pictures of the produce on sale inside. Thus it was that someone walking up from the village green would be presented with eight foot tall photos of milk bottles, newspapers, bread, canned tomatoes and dog food just before they reached the high street. When it had opened its doors for the first time a decade earlier, the genteel residents of Biddle Rhyne had derided it as a complete affront to the rural ambience of their village and then promptly flocked there in their droves to pick up any bits and pieces they had neglected in their weekly shop.

The inside of the building was just as uninspiring as the outside. The original walls had been covered over with smooth magnolia plasterwork, and even most of this was hidden by shelf upon shelf of packaged produce with another floor-to-ceiling shelf bisecting the space into two cramped aisles. At the counter next to the door, Julia stood in front of the regulation-grey sliding cabinet for tobacco products. She was wearing a polo shirt of scarlet with blue triangles, which she’d changed into after her walk with Mark. In theory these were the store colours, as had been explained to her when she started, but even the illuminated sign that spanned the entrance outside didn’t match. Still, Mr Donaldson insisted that it be worn.

She drummed her fingers idly on the one section of the counter that was free of merchandise, where the store’s card-payment policy was displayed, trapped under a thick sheet of Perspex. She’d long ago learned that time had little meaning here in Donaldson’s and passed with all the speed of treacle. Surreptitiously, Julia snuck her phone from her jeans pocket and checked for messages. Donaldson had caught her doing this once early on in her tenure and given her such an earful that now she always double-checked she was alone in the shop before doing so.

The door swung open, the scuffing sound it made along the floor tiles alerting her before the bell gave out its dull jangle, and she stuffed the phone away quickly and looked up attentively, but it was only Mrs Singh and Mrs Trevcock. Julia just about managed to give the two customers a welcoming smile but they were too deep in conversation to notice, chattering away to each other as they disappeared from view behind the central shelf.

“You heard about what happened to poor, dear Audrey White, I assume?” Julia heard Mrs Singh saying.

“Oh, I did. Just the most awful news. I’ve always said the police should crack down on the boy racers that go round those country lanes. And to not come forward after it? The things some people do,” Mrs Trevcock replied, tutting at several points in her speech.

Mrs Singh lowered her voice, although she was still clearly audible through the canned pineapples.

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